How much will the average NRH homeowner pay in city property tax this year?

In 2018, the average NRH home has a taxable value of about $184,000. At the tax rate of $0.585 per $100 property valuation, the city tax bill for this home will be $1,076 annually or $89.67 per month.

As a reminder, the taxable value of your home is significantly less than the market value of your home, due to appraisal caps and the exemptions offered by the city.

The Market Value is the amount the Tarrant County Appraisal District believes your home is currently worth.

The Appraised Value is the value of your home after state-mandated limitations on value increases for residential homesteads is factored in. This value is set by the Tarrant County Appraisal District. In Texas the appraised value of a homestead may increase no more than 10% per year.

The Taxable Value is the Appraised Value minus Exemptions. The tax rate is applied to the Taxable Value to determine your tax bill.

To lower your home's taxable value and your tax bill, the City of North Richland Hills provides the following exemptions:

Your city taxes fund the services and infrastructure you depend on every day, such as good roads and the police, fire and emergency medical services that respond in a crisis and keep our community safe. These funds also provide for innovative library programs that encourage life-long learning, as well as superior park and recreation amenities that promote active lifestyles and provide beautiful green space for recreation and play. In 2018, the average NRH homeowner paid $1,076 in property taxes to the city. The following chart shows how the tax payment was distributed to provide city services.

City Service

2018 Annual

Monthly

Percent

Public Safety

$ 539.38

$44.95

50.13%

Public Works (Streets)

$ 227.75

$18.98

21.17%

City Facilities

$ 151.07

$12.59

14.04%

Library

$ 55.08

$ 4.59

5.12%

Neighborhood Services

$ 46.20

$ 3.85

4.29%

Parks

$ 43.08

$ 3.59

4.00%

General Government*

$ 13.44

$ 1.12

1.25%

Total

$1,076.00

$89.67

100.00%

* General Government includes financial management, information technology, planning, communications and other administrative services.

Property taxes make up about 36% of the city's General Fund revenue, with sales tax contributing about 22%. Franchise fees, permits, fines, charges for service, grants and other sources also help fund the city's daily operations.

In 2018, the average NRH home has a taxable value of about $184,000. At the tax rate of $0.585 per $100 property valuation, the city tax bill for this home will be $1,076 annually or $89.67 per month.

As a reminder, the taxable value of your home is significantly less than the market value of your home, due to appraisal caps and the exemptions offered by the city.

The Market Value is the amount the Tarrant County Appraisal District believes your home is currently worth.

The Appraised Value is the value of your home after state-mandated limitations on value increases for residential homesteads is factored in. This value is set by the Tarrant County Appraisal District. In Texas the appraised value of a homestead may increase no more than 10% per year.

The Taxable Value is the Appraised Value minus Exemptions. The tax rate is applied to the Taxable Value to determine your tax bill.

To lower your home's taxable value and your tax bill, the City of North Richland Hills provides the following exemptions:

With a tax rate of $0.585, the average annual tax bill increased about $73 in 2018, or 7% compared to the average tax bill in 2017. It is important to note for homeowners who have a senior/disabled exemption in place, property taxes are capped and will not go up. 26% of homes benefits from the senior/disabled exemption.

Public hearings on the city's annual budget and tax rate are held in August / September each year before they are set by the City Council. The city's new fiscal year begins annually on October 1. Public hearing dates for 2019 will be published in the Fort Worth Star Telegram and here on our website as required by state law.

The effective tax rate is the total tax rate needed to raise the same amount of property tax revenue for the City of North Richland Hills from the same properties in both the 2017 tax year and the 2018 tax year. The rollback tax rate is the highest tax rate that the City of North Richland Hills may adopt before voters are entitled to petition for an election to limit the rate that may be approved to the rollback rate.

The 58.5-cent tax rate will generate $2,331,674 or 7.9% more in revenue from property taxes for FY 2018-19 compared to last year. Of that amount, $454,771 is tax revenue generated from new construction.

The funding will help city departments keep up with growth and increasing demands on services. We will add 2 police officers to the Police Department's patrol unit, which has not increased patrol staffing since 2001. Additional firefighter/paramedics will also be hired to staff a fourth full-time ambulance, which will improve response to an increasing numbers of emergency medical calls in our community. The budget also includes competitive public safety compensation to ensure the city continues to attract and retain qualified first responders. Funding for the city’s annual preventive street maintenance program is budgeted at $1.3 million to address increasing maintenance needs on our aging city streets. That’s an increase of $315,000 over prior years.

Property values are set by the Tarrant Appraisal District (TAD) and may decrease, increase or remain the same from year to year. Property values are based on a number of factors including current housing market conditions. Overall, existing property values decreased from 2009 to 2011 and it was not until 2014 that they returned to pre-recession levels. There was essentially no increase in existing home values in 2015. While property values have increased since 2016, it is important to note that the taxable value has not increased as much as the market value due to state mandated limitations on value increases for residential homesteads and exemptions offered by the city. While senior and disabled residents may see their property values increase, their tax bill will not increase above the amount they paid in the year that they qualified for the tax ceiling, unless they buy a new home or add to on to their home. The chart below shows the change in both the average taxable value and average market value for single family homes in North Richland Hills.

Property tax rates vary by city, as do property values. Some cities may have a lower tax rate, but a significantly higher average home value. Also, they may offer no homestead exemption or a lower homestead exemption. Some cities have much higher sales tax and hotel/motel tax revenue that help fund city services, enabling the city to maintain a lower property tax rate. The following shows the 2018 average annual city property tax bill in NRH compared to the average city property tax bill in neighboring cities. (Please note, this reflects city taxes only and does not include property taxes levied by school districts or county entities.)

North Richland Hills residents can receive a 15% homestead exemption, plus a $36,000 exemption if they are a senior citizen (65 and older) or disabled.

We will use a home valued at $200,000 as an example, which is the average Appraised Value of a single family home in North Richland Hills in 2017. The homestead exemption (15% of the Appraised Value) on this property equals $30,000. This is subtracted from the Appraised Value, making the property's Taxable Value $170,000.

When the homeowner turns 65, they can fill out an application through the Tarrant Appraisal District and receive the senior exemption. This is not in lieu of the 15%, but rather in addition. If a home with the average Appraised Value of $200,000 has both the 15% Homestead and the $36,000 Senior Exemption on the property, the owner would receive total exemptions of $66,000 ($30,000 + $36,000). This reduces the property's Taxable Value to $134,000.

The current tax rate is applied to the Taxable Value of the property. In this example, at a 59-cent rate, the resident would pay $1,003 in city property tax if they have the homestead exemption or $790.60 in city property taxes if they have both the homestead and senior exemption.

To verify if you have the homestead and / or senior exemption in place, contact the Tarrant Appraisal District at 817-284-0024.

The senior / disabled tax ceiling (also known as a tax freeze) ensures that a senior or disabled person will not have a city tax bill any higher than what was paid in city taxes in the year the homeowner turns 65 or becomes disabled, even if there are increases to their property value or the tax rate.

The amount a senior or disabled homeowner pays in city taxes can decrease if changes to the appraised value and tax rate equal an amount lower than their frozen amount. However, if in subsequent years the value increases and/or the tax rate increases, the homeowner can pay more in property taxes but not more than the amount previously frozen. The cap does not reset.

If improvements are made to the home (such as an addition, not general maintenance type improvements), then the tax bill can go up by the amount of taxes related to the improvement. This amount added to the previously frozen amount would then become the new ceiling on the amount of taxes a homeowner would pay.

If a homeowner benefits from the freeze, sells their home and buys a new home of higher value, the freeze will apply to the new home at the same proportion as the freeze applied to the home they sold.

The tax freeze may be passed on to a surviving spouse if the surviving spouse is 55 years of age or older at the time of the eligible homeowner’s death and continues to reside in the residence.

A senior / disabled tax ceiling is in place for 1 out of 4 homeowners in North Richland Hills. This number continues to grow each year. To verify that you have the senior / disabled tax ceiling in place, contact the Tarrant Appraisal District at 817-284-0024.